DEVELOPING 'Numerous' officers shot in 'active situation' in Charlotte, North Carolina, police say
'Numerous law enforcement officers' have been shot in an “active situation” in Charlotte, North Carolina, police say.
Advocates worry that Ukrainian refugees attempting to flee to Canada will be sidelined by bureaucratic red tape as thousands of Afghan interpreters and their families fight for their own promised resettlement.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will get as many Ukrainians to Canada as quickly as possible through two new immigration streams.
Under the Canada Ukraine Authorization For Emergency Travel program, there won't be a limit on the number of Ukrainians coming to Canada on a temporary basis.
But those who are trying to flee the country amid a violent Russian occupation are already facing red tape, raising concerns that the program will fall short of its promises.
“The last thing on a person's mind is when bombs are falling over your head is: ‘Do you have your COVID vaccine,’” Bohdan Dolban told CTV National News.
Dolban is attempting to help his cousins flee Ukraine and come to Canada. While they are safe for now, they live just an hour away from where Russian forces bombed a Ukrainian military base.
“They didn’t give a lot of information and when they tried to call, it would keep ringing or go to an answering machine with no answer,” he explained.
The Mississauga, Ont. man says he’s concerned that the red tape involved in the immigration process will jeopardize his family’s safety -- a concern many Afghanistan refugees know all too well.
In August 2021, Canada vowed to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees after the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Many of those refugees include interpreters who aided the Canadian military during their time in Afghanistan. Now, they and their families are in hiding, targeted for their role in the war.
In seven months, almost 15,000 Afghans have applied through the special immigration process and more than 10,000 have been approved, but just 8,580 have actually arrived in Canada.
“They're left applying mostly through the regular immigration routes, which of course takes a very, very long time,” Chantal Desloges, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, told CTV National News.
“Most of the time it’s not an attainable situation for them to wait that long because they are in danger.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says more than 8,500 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Canada since January. However, it’s unclear how many of those cases are directly related to the current Russian crisis.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has called the situation in Afghanistan "quite different" from what's happening in Ukraine, saying that most of the displaced Ukrainians want to return home in the future.
"One of the big differences is the fact that the people who are fleeing Afghanistan, we're planning to have them become Canadians and to live here forever. When you have a permanent resettlement process, that works into our annual levels planning to make sure that we're prepared to resettle and set people up for success on a permanent basis," Fraser told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.
Fraser also pointed out that, unlike Ukrainians who have safe passage towards neighbouring countries to the west of Ukraine, many Afghans have struggled to leave Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
- With files from Tom Yun
'Numerous law enforcement officers' have been shot in an “active situation” in Charlotte, North Carolina, police say.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
B.C. Premier David Eby has joined other politicians denouncing remarks at a demonstration in Vancouver where protesters chanted “long live Oct. 7,” praising that day's attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says international students will be able to work off-campus for up to 24 hours per week starting in September.
Members of Parliament are questioning why Canadian security officials did not inform them that they had been the target of Beijing-linked hackers, after learning from the FBI that the international parliamentary alliance they are a part of was in the crosshairs of the Chinese cyberattack in 2021.
Norovirus is spreading at a 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada, specifically, in Ontario and Alberta, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods have thrown cold water on that.
Tobacco manufacturers have until Tuesday to ensure every king-size cigarette produced for sale in Canada has a health warning printed directly on it.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.